H is for heritage

This year celebrates 25 Years of Glorious Gardening. Like all great
gardens West Dean has seen many changes from its peak in the
Edwardian era, through long decline during the twentieth century.
Following the devastating storms on 1987, husband and wife team,
Jim Buckland and Sarah Wain, began the painstaking renovation of
the gardens to their full glory. The overall aim was to work within
the historic framework while building on the many diverse
characteristics.

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Edwardian Pergola and Sunken Garden

Designed by British architect, landscape architect and garden
designer,
Harold Peto (1854 to 1933), and over 300 metres long, the
pergola was extensively restored following the 1987 storm, and can
be viewed from a wide range of angles. It is host to many varieties
of clematis, rose and honeysuckle.

The gazebo at its west end has a floor of knapped flints
interspersed with horses' molars. Interior herbaceous borders are
planted with a wide variety of hostas, pelargoniums, ferns, iris,
dicentras and spring bulbs. The amphitheatre to the north is used
for theatrical open-air performances in the summer period.

The recently restored Sunken Garden, at the eastern end of the
pergola gives the area an intimacy and sense of shelter, in marked
contrast to the spaciousness of the surrounding lawns. The garden
is a winner of the
Sussex Heritage Trust Landscape and Gardens Award.

The planting has been designed to provide fragrance and flowers
throughout the summer months.

Victorian glasshouses

These splendid glasshouses were all built between 1890 and 1900
and were completely derelict before their restoration in the early
1990s. They are magnificent examples of Victorian craft and
ingenuity. They are repainted on a four year cycle; the exteriors
over summer, when the weather is kinder, and the interiors over
winter, when the glasshouses can be emptied. In addition, they are
hand scrubbed from top to bottom, inside and out, each winter, a
process that takes two tolerant gardeners two months to complete.
There are thirteen glasshouses in total. Because of their age and
despite restoration it has become necessary to commence a programme
of completely rebuilding the timber superstructures of the
glasshouse range. This will ensure their survival for another
century. Find out more about the appeal
and how you can help us to save our precious glasshouses.

There is always colour on display from the large collection of
plants including exotic plants, orchids, strawberry plants, figs,
nectarines, peaches, gourds, grapes and melons.

Did you know?
The glasshouses are heated by a woodchip burning boiler which also
heats the College and associated buildings using woodchips produced
from West Dean Estate's commercial forestry.

Spring and Woodland Garden

Parts of this area date back to the Regency period, including a
series of flint bridges. The rustic summerhouse at the westerly end
has been restored to its early 19th Century glory with moss walls,
seaweed decorations, heather ceiling and thatched roof and makes a
perfect spot for a quiet rest. The laburnum and ivy tunnel makes a
shady walkway in the summer sunshine.

Surrealist tree sculptures

At the west end of the spring garden, two fibreglass tree
sculptures, created by Edward James can be found. Edward James's
gardener, Ivan Hicks, said Edward wanted to perpetuate trees that
had to be felled from disease and old age by 'encapsulating' the
standing timber in fibreglass, thereby creating a tree that would
never decay. He asked sculptor Ralph Burton to undertake the work
on the two trees in 1972 and 1974. The timber has since rotted,
leaving the fibreglass shells, forming surrealist tree sculptures
around the original trunks.

Gallery

Fruit collection

There has been a recent resurgence of interest in old orchards
and apple varieties. Sadly, increased competition from imports in
more recent years forced English growers to concentrate on a
handful of good commercial varieties. The wealth of varieties once
grown commercially lingered on in derelict orchards, declining
Estate gardens and in the back gardens of cottages and houses
across the country.

West Dean Garden's celebrated apple
collection is housed within and around the walled garden. There
are over 100 varieties of apple and 45 varieties of pear, including
heritage varieties with links to West Sussex, many of them trained
into exquisite traditional shapes, and our aim is to:

To grow any variety that we know was grown at West Dean between
1890 and 1914 when the walled garden was at its peak.

To grow a wide variety of Victorian varieties as this is the
period of the development of the walled garden.

To grow both earlier and modern cultivars, to display as wide a
range of varieties as possible.

To grow all of these in as many diverse ways as possible
including half standards, four-winged pyramids, goblets, oblique
cordons, espaliers, palmette verriers, and cross-bars.

The bulk of the walled garden fruit was planted in the
mid-nineties.

25 Years of Glorious Gardening exhibition

Find out more about 25 Years of Glorious Gardening. A
new photographic display in the 'old mushroom shed' tells the story
of Jim and Sarah's renovation of West Dean Gardens (May to
October). Entry free with a gardens entry ticket.

Apple Store

The walled garden, which was fully restored in 1992, is entered
through a gate in the west wall on the south side of the early 19th
century, circular flint Apple Store with its conical thatched roof
and is Listed a Grade II summerhouse on the
Historic England Register.